The present invention is directed to rail systems for holding panels in place, and more particularly to door and/or partition rail systems for holding a plate glass pane in a doorway and/or wall partition.
Rail systems are conventionally used to hold plate glass panels or panes (or other transparent, translucent or opaque panels) in a doorway opening or for use as a wall partition. Usually, the rail system runs along one or more edges of the panel and secures the panel at its edges. Preferably, the rail system includes an accessory channel space to hold miscellaneous door frame hardware, such as locking hardware, pivots and hardware related to hydraulic closure devices.
In many prior art rail systems, such as those typically used in the doors of shopping malls, the rail is permanently attached to the pane. Of course, this makes it difficult or impossible to remove the rail from the pane, and this is generally considered to be a disadvantage of these permanent attachment designs. Also, in these permanent attachment designs, it is conventionally the glass supplier who convenytionally makes the permanent connection between the pane and the rail assembly. This means that the on-site glazier or door installer is dependent on the off-site glass supplier, which is disadvantageous, at least from the perspective of glaziers and installers.
However, FIG. 1 shows a prior art rail system 10, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 (herein incorporated by reference), wherein the pane can be assembled with and disassembled from the rail. More particularly, rail system 10 generally includes tempered glass door pane 11 and rail assembly 12. Rail assembly 12 defines and accommodates accessory channel space 14. Screw 16 is tightened to cause assembly 12 to clamp and thereby secure the edge of pane 11. Screw 16 is loosened to remove pane 11 from rail assembly 12. Screw 16 is tightened and loosened by accessing its head via access port 56.
The present application deals with some potential problems in the above described prior art and some potential solutions to these potential problems. One potential problem with the door rail system of described U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 is that the hole in the side of the rail caused by access port 56 is not considered aesthetically appropriate for many applications. While it is necessary to cover the sides of the rail with some type of cladding, such as an aluminum plate, this adds expense, and makes the rail system more difficult to assemble and disassemble.
Another potential problem with the rail system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 is that accessory channel space 14 is formed by two separate pieces. These two separate pieces are separate because they clamp and unclamp to allow assembly with and disassembly from a pane. While it is advantageous that the rail system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 can be assembled with and disassembled from the pane, it is unfortunate that the accessory channel is defined by separate pieces because this means that hardware components in the accessory channel, which are attached to both sides of the accessory channel 14 require disassembly from the accessory channel before the accessory channel can be separated into its two defining pieces in order to allow the rail system to be removed from the pane.
To put it a little more simply, the rail system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 must be disassembled before it can be removed from a door. For similar reasons, and perhaps more importantly, hardware cannot be fully installed in accessory channel 14 until the rail system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010 is assemble with the pane. While these assembly and disassembly difficulties are subtle, they can add significantly to the time required for a glazier or installer to do assembly and disassembly procedures.
Another problem is that the prior art systems require periodic maintenance (tightening) for proper operation. In many systems, simple tightening operations require removal of the door or panel and sometimes require partial disassembly of the rail.
Also, it is desirable to increase the clamping force and stability over what can be achieved by the rail system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,010. Furthermore, it is desirable to optimize the distribution of the clamping force along the portion of the pane that is held captive in the clamping hardware.
At least some embodiments of the present invention can solve these problems and associated opportunities for improvement.
At least some embodiments of the present invention may exhibit one or more of the following objects, advantages and benefits:
(1) to provide a rail system with an accessory channel;
(2) to provide a rail system with more stable clamping force;
(3) to provide a rail system with continuous and aesthetically-attractive exposed surfaces;
(4) to provide a rail system that does not require cladding to be placed over the exposed surfaces of the rails;
(5) to provide a rail system that takes advantage of taper locking forces;
(6) to provide a rail system wherein the weight of the pane causes forces that accentuate the clamping forces on the pane;
(7) to provide a rail system wherein the distribution of clamping force on the pane is optimized;
(8) to provide a rail system that is easier to assemble and disassemble because of easy accessibility of fastening members (eg, screw heads);
(9) to provide a rail system that can more easily accommodate panes of different thicknesses;
(10) to provide a rail system that facilitates easy field maintenance and replacement;
(11) to provide a rail system that can be assembled with a pane by door installers and/or glaziers; and
(12) to provide a rail system that is removable from a pane without disassembly of the rail system.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a rail system for securing a panel includes a housing, at least one clamp and actuation hardware. The housing has a mating surface. The at least one clamp member is shaped and structured to clamp onto the panel. The at least one clamp member also has a mating surface located to be in contact with the mating surface of the housing. The actuation hardware is structured to drive the clamp member to move relative to the housing in a driven direction. The mating surface of the housing and the mating surface of the clamp member are inclined relative to this driven direction so that at least a portion of the clamp member will move in a clamping direction, which is different than the driven direction, when the clamp member is driven in the driven direction by the actuation hardware.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a rail system for releasably securing a pane oriented in a vertical direction includes an elongated housing, a first clamp member, a second clamp member, a screw and a nut. The elongated housing includes a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface. The first inclined surface of the elongated housing is oriented to be generally inclined with respect to the vertical direction. The second inclined surface of the elongated housing is oriented to be generally inclined with respect to the vertical direction. The first clamp member includes an inclined surface and a pane clamping surface. The inclined surface of the first clamp member is located adjacent to the first inclined surface of the housing and is oriented to be approximately parellel to the first inclined surface of the housing. The second clamp member includes an inclined surface and a pane claimping surface. The inclined surface of the second clamp member is located adjacent to the second inclined surface of the housing and oriented to be approximately parellel to the second inclined surface of the housing. The nut is threadably engaged with the screw and located to drive the first and second clamp members in the vertical direction when the screw is rotated.
Further applicability of the present invention will become apparent from a review of the detailed description and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description and examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.